Honduras Wins Central American Crown

PANAMA Metropolis – Honduras won its 3rd Central American nations title and initial since 1995, scoring a objective in every fifty % to beat a ten-man Costa Rica 2-1 Sunday.

Walter Martinez gave “Los Catrachos” the lead in the eighth moment and Emil Martinez additional the eventual winner in the 53rd as Honduras beat its regional rival at the Copa Centroamericana for the initial time since 1999.

Costa Rica, which has won a report 6 titles and was appearing in its fourth straight final, finished runner-up for a 2nd consecutive time.

Marcos Urena pulled Costa Rica inside a objective in the 73rd, but it wasn’t sufficient to steer clear of seeing its unbeaten streak against Honduras at the Copa Centroamerica finish at five.

The match, which followed Panama’s -four victory on penalties following a goalless draw with El Salvador in the 3rd-location game, finished the Central American qualifier which will send all four teams as properly as Guatemala to June’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Honduras’ victory was a rematch of the initial-round game in which the Catrachos equalized in damage time to draw 1-1 with Costa Rica.

Costa Rica was the initial to produce a chance when Urena rolled a shot wide in the 3rd moment, but El Salvador took the lead five minutes later on. Juan Garcia unleashed a left-footed shot from the leading of the region off the far post and it rebounded back across the goalmouth.

Garcia corralled his personal rebound and lifted a short cross into the center of the region exactly where Walter Martinez finished unmarked into an open net from the 6, with Costa Rica goalkeeper Donny Grant sprawled on the floor.

Emil Martinez doubled the lead with a totally free kick from a action outdoors the region, curling a left-footed function more than a five-man wall just within the right post. A diving Grant was in a position to get his left hand to the ball, but only managed to deflect it into the net.

It was the initial time in 22 matches at the Centroamericana that Costa Rica permitted much more than 1 objective.

Costa Rica’s probabilities had been additional diminished in the 63rd when Dario Delgado obtained his 2nd yellow card in 12 minutes, both for fouls on Walter Martinez.

Urena, who was denied by Honduran keeper Noel Valladares twice in the initial fifty %, finally converted to give Costa Rica hope. He collected a ball within the leading of the penalty region, dribbled across the 18 prior to twisting to hit a decreased ball that rolled previous a screened Valladares within the left post.

Costa Rica had the better of play for the remainder of the game, but Valladares produced a quantity of saves – such as an additional to thwart Urena in the 81st — to preserve the victory.

Panama , El Salvador (Panama wins -four on penalties)

Amilcar Henriquez converted the clinching penalty in a match that Panama prevailed following becoming thwarted by goalkeeper Dagoberto Portillo on a handful of probabilities, even though El Salvador produced only 1 shot on objective.

The outcome was some consolation for Panama, which was looking to defend its title on home soil and was beaten in the semifinals on penalties by Costa Rica.

The match was delayed twice in the 2nd fifty % when a swarm of flying insects appeared to nest in the upper left corner of the Salvadoran objective. Honduran referee Benigno Pineda initial suspended the game in the 56th moment even though floor crew personnel fumigated the region.

After a -moment delay, the game resumed, but the insects returned in the 73rd — forcing an additional fumigation that lasted 6 minutes. The suspended play resulted in an 13 minutes of stoppage time.

It was the 2nd time in a little much more than a yr that El Salvador was the victim of insects. Its Globe Cup qualifier in October 2009 at Estadio Azteca was interrupted in the initial fifty % when flying pests nestled along the crossbar in Mexico’s four-1 win that clinched El Tri’s trip to South Africa.

Panama had the far better of play, generating a quantity of probabilities, such as its greatest in the 87th when Portillo produced a diving left-handed response block of Roberto Brown’s header off a cross from Henriquez.

El Salvador, which produced couple of probabilities, didn’t need Panamanian keeper Jaime Penedo to touch the ball till he came off his line to clear a rolling pass in the 30th moment, and didn’t deal with the ball till a weak rolling shot in the 64th.

It was the 3rd consecutive fourth-location finish for “Los Cuscatlecos”, who had been looking to match their greatest finish of 3rd in the Central American nations championship, final achieved in 2003.